Eagles boss won’t go easy on students

SHEFFIELD Eagles coach Mark Aston has ruled out any ‘experimental’ team selections for his club’s version of University Challenge.

He’s given a pledge that his first choice line-up will face the students of Leeds Met University in the third round Carnegie Challenge Cup game this weekend. “We won’t be taking chances against Leeds” he said. “We’re not playing well enough to mess about with the team. We need to put our best team out and show Leeds Met respect.”

One win in the four opening games of the season has stepped up the pressure on Eagles to perform at Don Valley on Sunday (3pm).

That kind of form has brought back memories of the humiliation suffered when amateurs Thornhill Trojans put the Eagles out of the Cup in 2000.

“We need to get a settled team” added Aston. “Those that aren’t playing well will be out; it gets cut-throat now when it comes to team selection.” Progress into the fourth round opens up the chance of a draw against a Super League club. Aston has options in the forwards with the return of Alex Szostak. Behind the pack it’s a different story. Dual-registration players Kyle Wood and Jamie Cording are unlikely to be allowed to play to prevent them being cup-tied.